Pokemon Way of Life Chapter 38

Hi all,

Here's the next chapter. I hit two hundred thousand words in the last chapter, but who cares about that? Wait till I get to half a million before I bring out the champagne. There's a small segment from Faith's POV to switch things up a bit.

"Giro!"

Lucas woke up with a startled yell, tripping over the sheets as he tried to figure out what was happening. It took a moment to realise that it was Giro who had interrupted his sleep. He groaned and lay down again.

"Giro, it's good to see you, but did you have to wake me up like that?"

"Giro." The robot nodded in response.

'What's going on?' Max raised his head and looked at them with narrowed eyes. 'I had this dream where a voice tried to convince me to become a priest and convert the masses to the Arceus religion.'

Lucas shook his fist at the ceiling. "Damn you, Narrator, stop trying to convert my partner with your crazy scheme."

{Friendly Narrator.} 'I don't know what you are talking about.'

Max looked at him with a look of confusion on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Lucas scrambled out of bed to avoid answering. After taking a shower, his Pokemon joined him in the dining area located on the first floor. Faith and Jason weren't there yet, so he chose an empty table and ordered some crepes and fruit. The hotel also served Pokemon food, so the four Pokemon browsed the menu, looking for something to eat.

Halfway through his meal, Faith joined him at the table with her Pokemon trailing behind her. She kissed him before sitting down and stealing a crepe from his plate. "Did you get a good night's sleep? You could hardly keep your eyes open after the stream ended."

Lucas nodded. "It would have been helpful to have had a bit more sleep, but Giro returned and woke me up."

"So he's finally back?" Faith grabbed Spook, who was eyeing another female guest and placed the Pokemon on her lap. "I bet your dad will be happy about that."

Lucas shrugged as he dug back into his breakfast before his girlfriend could steal it all. After finishing his meal, he got out his phone to check his current account balance. After winning the wager, he had scored an extra two hundred thousand Pokedollars. Now he was sitting on over four hundred thousand Pokedollars. Furthermore, his song will be released today for sale, which would bring in another source of revenue every week.

It wasn't long before Jason joined them, and they finished their meal and started making their way outside. Their eyes were drawn towards the overcast sky, which hinted at the possibility of some rain in the near future. Since they had some shopping to do, they decided to check out of the hotel after they acquired Shelly so they didn't have to carry their packs around.

"Now that we can afford some more space, should we upgrade our tents? Something more substantial than the single-person tents and with better protection from the rain," Lucas said.

"That's not a terrible idea," Jason replied, picking up Sandee to comfort her when she looked up at the sky with a frown. She wasn't a fan of the rain.

"Misty will be meeting us shortly," Faith said, checking her phone. "Last night, she called to ask if she could join us on our journey to Viridian City, as I had imagined. I told her she was welcome."

"Okay," Lucas nodded. After waiting five minutes, they spotted Misty walking toward them briskly with a huge pack on her shoulders.

"Hey, thanks for letting me tag along," Misty said. "I was nervous about making the trip to Viridian City alone."

"It's no problem at all. The more, the merrier," Lucas said with a smile on his face. "We are going to be doing some shopping for supplies before we leave. Besides that, I need to pick up the Rhyhorn I hired for transport."

"Is it going to be a problem adding another person?" Misty asked with concern.

"Not really," Lucas said. "I will get the owner to add another saddle to the Rhyhorn."

"I will pay for it," Misty took out her wallet. "How much do you think it will be?"

"I don't think it's much. You can pay me back later." Lucas looked at his phone to consult the list he had written to remind himself of the things they needed. "We need to purchase a portable shower kit, some more ingredients for our Pokemon, and new tents. We still have plenty of food for ourselves in my dimensional space."

"A dimensional space?" Misty asked, unsure of the meaning of the words.

"Faith and I are Aura Users," Lucas explained. "I have the ability to store items in a pocket of space outside of the real world."

"Then why do you need to — "

"It's more adventurous this way," Jason interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "He believes that we shouldn't have access to it while we are outside."

"Okay," Misty said dubiously.

"Lucas has these rules that he has imposed on himself," Faith giggled. "Well, it's nothing too egregious, so we'll let him enjoy his amusing diversions."

"I am standing right here," Lucas said dryly before bringing them back on point. "So, I was thinking about how we should divide up the expenses for things that are used by the entire group. It would be helpful to have a separate group spending account for all of us to contribute to, but it will never be spent without the group's permission. Things like portable showers would fall under this category. It is possible for the larger tents to be a personal item, or a group item, depending on your preferences, but we probably can get a deal if we purchase them together."

Besides, if he got them, he could use his bartering perk and get a good discount.

"Voting for adding the tents as a group item is now underway," Jason said. "If you agree, then raise your hand."

All four raised their hands. To begin with, they decided to add five thousand Pokedollars each to the fund, which Lucas would take care of. They tried to get Misty to lower her contribution, but she merely said that she would take back any unspent Pokedollars if she left the party. Lucas figured that she was thinking of joining the group permanently.

“I’m heading to go and get the saddle sorted first and pick up Shelly before we buy any of the major things on the list. If there are any personal items that you wish to purchase, I suggest you get them now. We will meet back here in a couple of hours.”

They separated, and Lucas made his way back to the store. Simon was inside, making the final adjustments to Shelly’s trailer and harness.

“Hey Simon, I have a last-minute request,” Lucas said, patting Shelly’s head.

“What is it?” Simon asked.

“I need you to fit another saddle on, as we have another person joining the team. How long will it take to fit another saddle?"

" I suppose that depends," Simon replied, rubbing his chin in thought. "The one that Shelly is wearing now is a double saddle, which fits over the ridge on her back. I have no problem attaching another double saddle to it, but if you only want a single saddle, that will take some time as I would have to alter the ones I have."

"Let's just fit her in the double," Lucas decided. “By the way, why is there now a huge recess on top of the trailer?”

“It’s a new idea I had,” Simo grinned. “It’s a seating compartment for small Pokemon that you wish to take along with you. I haven’t had time to add any seating, but if you add a blanket and some cushions, then you should be set. You may want to invest in a tarpaulin, though, because I haven’t built a roof for it, so it may get wet.”

"That's cool," Lucas replied with a nod of approval. “Do you need help fitting the saddle?”

“That would be helpful, thank you.”

{0(((..)))0}

Faith’s POV.

"Let's go together,” Faith suggested to Misty after Jason walked off, citing that he needed another memory card for his camera. “I want to visit the Alchemy store.”

“Okay,” Misty said. “Can I store my pack in your room? I have already checked out of my hotel.”

“No problem.”

After storing Misty’s pack in her room, they made their way over to the store several streets over. When Spook reached out for Misty with her wriggling vines, Faith drew Spook back into her arms.

"Hello there,” Misty touched one of Spook's vines. "Aren't you friendly?”

“Don’t be fooled by appearances,” Faith said wryly. "She is a deviant with a penchant for breasts. Give her half the chance, and she will grope you.”

“Noted,” Misty grinned.

Faith was excited to have a female along for the journey. Don’t get her wrong, she liked travelling with her boyfriend and Jason, but having a female to talk to was pleasant. There were certain things that you couldn’t discuss with males.

Faith had an ulterior motive for inviting Misty along besides getting to know her better. She was interested in getting some brand-new clothes, specifically some sexy lingerie that she hoped to show off to Lucas soon. She was only half kidding when she told him that she would give him a reward for winning the tournament. Even if he lost, she hoped to advance their relationship to a more intimate level.

If he wasn’t so tired last night, it was possible she would have lost her virginity. There was a reason for this being that it was becoming difficult to stop kissing and some light groping over their clothes. In spite of the fact that she was slightly nervous about the prospect of opening herself up to such physical and emotional intimacy, she also had a sense of excitement.

Faith never imagined that she would be where she was now a few months ago. The future looked bleak for her and the orphans, and she didn't see a way of achieving her own dreams as long as they needed her. There was no way she would leave them in the clutches of that creep, Ethan Kline. She had a difficult enough time fending off his advances.

It was all thanks to Lucas, she reflected. He was like a hurricane that came storming into her life and upended it in a matter of weeks. His confidence and charisma are what attracted her most, although it was a bonus that he was gorgeous. I had no idea how he was able to remain so humble and unaffected by all the privileges that he had.

It may have been the three years he spent in a coma that tempered him a bit. However, it could also just be that he was a genuinely nice guy.

Another person she had to thank was Gloria Wyndham, who gave most of her wealth to the thirteen orphans after she passed away. It was because of her that Faith no longer had to worry about the orphan's future, and she could now focus on her own. She was determined to live her life to the fullest as a thank you to the woman for her kindness.

Faith wasn’t sure why she did it, as they had only met in passing a few times whenever the old lady strolled past their house. However, when they did chat, there was no judgment or censure in her words. Gloria seemed genuinely interested in her, which was a novel concept. Her parents had no time for her when she was growing up. Therefore, they pawned her off to a nanny because they were too busy to take care of her on their own due to their busy careers. Sometimes she wondered why they even had a child.

“So, how did you and Lucas meet?” Misty asked curiously.

Faith could not help but giggle. "I first noticed Lucas at the Pokemon School a few months ago. I could feel he was sizing me up in the cafeteria, and I was suspicious of his motives."

"It seems that he was attracted to you first," Misty sighed wistfully. “Did he pursue you?”

"Literally," Faith recalled the event. “He followed me out of the cafeteria, which alarmed me, so I decided to ambush him and give him a wallop.”

“That’s an appropriate response,” Misty joked.

“You have to understand that I was dealing with a lot of shit at the time," Faith grimaced. “Anyway, the ambush failed. Lucas was too quick, and I was rendered helpless. Fortunately, he only wanted to talk.

It was from that moment on that he became a part of my life, and that sneaky bastard snuck his way into my heart. Even so, he has done a lot for me, so I can’t complain too much.”

“Tell me if I’m being nosy,” Misty said with a naughty smile. “Have you gone all the way yet?"

“Nope,” Faith replied. “But I hope to change that soon. In fact, I could use your help.”

“Oh?”

“I need to pick up some sexy lingerie that will blow his mind.”

"No problem," Misty said with a waggle of her eyebrows. "He won't be able to keep his hands off you when we are done."

They arrived at the alchemy shop. Upon entering the store, they both glanced around in a curious manner. On a table in the centre, various alchemy equipment was displayed. There were a number of ingredients drying along the wall, which gave off an enticing aroma.

"Hello there,” the shopkeeper called from the counter, leaning on her hand. The woman had long dark hair with dreadlocks framing her face and a ponytail tied at the back.

“Hi,” Faith stepped up to the counter. “I’m interested in getting into alchemy, so I need a full setup of equipment and some starting materials.”

“Well, a budding alchemist, huh?" the woman smiled. “My name is Izumi, the owner of this store. I will tell you off the bat if you are looking to make a profit from alchemy, then it will come from inventing new recipes. The Pokemon League already has a monopoly on mass production, employing about ninety per cent of all alchemists. Therefore, you won’t be able to compete with them if you attempt it alone.”

“That’s fine,” Faith replied. “My boyfriend is already creating his own incense, so I want to follow in his footsteps.”

“Lucas Walker? Well, I hope you have the same success," Izumi left the counter and began assembling the starter kit.

Faith's eyes grew wider as the pile of items grew higher and higher. This was going to cost a decent amount of Pokedollars.

{0(((..)))0}

Lucas walked through the streets with Shelly following him. She pulled the long cylindrical trailer behind her that was filled with the purchases he had made in town.

The tents were the first item he purchased, and he got three of them. He figured Jason would have one to himself, and so would Misty. He hoped he and Faith would be able to share the last, but if that was not the case, then she could bunk with Misty.

They were very spacious, although not quite family size, but they could fit two queen-sized beds comfortably. They were weather resistant and only took a couple of minutes to set up as the poles were pre-attached. More importantly, they had electrical outlets that they could connect to the power supply at certain camping grounds and other locations. As a result, their equipment as well as batteries could be recharged.

As a next step, he brought a portable shower, which was similar to a tent, and had a frame enclosed in a cover made of polyester. On top of the frame, there was a showerhead and tubing that was connected to a water pump. This allowed them to pump water from a nearby water source to use in the shower. The water was heated by a rechargeable battery attached to the back of the tent, which could last a few hours on one charge. He had also brought a multi-gallon water container that he attached to the back of the trailer, which they could use when water wasn't available.

While he was browsing, he also brought some more miscellaneous items like campfire appliances, a portable water filter and some tarpaulin to cover them if they got out in the rain.

The last thing he picked up was a tonne of ingredients for their Pokemon, and he probably went a bit overboard. They were going to be in Viridian City within two or three days. But it was better to be safe than sorry. On a side note, he still needed to create a recipe for Duke, and he couldn’t rely on Pink Coral that he liked, as it was in limited supply. He should ask Misty for some ideas.

“There he is,” a shout interrupted his thoughts, and Lucas looked around to identify the source. A large group of teenagers was standing further down the street, and a girl was pointing at him from the front. He recognised them immediately as the fan club he had seen in the crowds, as they were wearing the familiar orange sweatshirt and white bottoms.

Lucas watched as they hurried over, a tiny bit concerned that he was about to be mobbed. However, they stopped a metre away and kept a respectful distance.

“Hi,” the girl said cheerily. “My name is Valerie Holloway, the leader of the Official Lucas Walker Fanclub.” The others behind her waved but were content to take the lead. The girl appeared to be about his age but was vertically challenged, standing about five feet. Valerie had short purple hair and green eyes and seemed to bounce around rather than walk, which reminded him of Haley, the energetic orphan.

"Wouldn't I have to endorse it for it to be official?" Lucas teased.

Valerie was dumbfounded as she took the statement seriously. A few mutters and worried glances from the group behind her ascertained that they were taking his words out of context as well.

"I'm just kidding," Lucas said. "Who would say no to having their own official fan club? I saw you in the stands. I really enjoyed the instrumental version of the song you created. Thanks for supporting me.”

"No worries," Valerie replied, perking up before introducing the rest of the group to him. It was a fortunate thing he had a sharp memory because he would have been overwhelmed by hearing twenty-plus names at once.

“So, what does a fan club do anyway?” Lucas asked.

“It depends. We started the fan club because we thought you were really cool,” Valerie gave him a thumbs up. “Our main function is to follow your career and support you in any way you can. Some famous celebrities won’t allow their fans to do much more than that, but we would like to serve a more prominent role.”

“Like what?”

Firstly, we are all members of your Tweak channel. We want to become moderators because you still only have one person moderating the chat, even though your channel has grown so big.”

It was true. Either Jason or Faith would moderate the chat. However, because there were over five hundred thousand followers now, it limited how much they could interact with chat and monitor any bad behaviour.

“That sounds like a smart idea,” Lucas said. “I will have to pay you for it, though, as it will be a busy job, but that can come out of channel earnings. What else?”

“We would like to design a website that is focused on you,” Valerie said seriously. “Nothing too time-consuming on your part. Putting up photos and short video clips should suffice, along with personal messages so people can feel connected to you. Our task will be to record all of your accomplishments and create a forum where fans can hang out and chat.”

“Hmm, do you have someone that could do that?”

Matt stepped forward with an eager look on his face. “I have experience in web design. I could have a website built within a couple of days if I don’t sleep at all.”

“Okay, wait a moment,” Lucas looked around and noticed that Shelly was blocking the street. "Let me think about it for a few days. I will be in Viridian City next, so we can meet there or do a video call to discuss details."

“That’s cool,” Valerie nodded enthusiastically. “Here’s my number, but we head to Viridian City tomorrow, so if you are still there, then we can meet up.”

They exchanged phone numbers, before they rushed off. Lucas shook his head at the encounter and motioned for Shelly to start moving again. As he walked back to the hotel, he thought deeply about and his prospects for the future.

Outside of his trainer career, his fame was gaining momentum, and if he didn't manage it properly, it could spiral out of control fast. The fan club was one thing, and even then, he would have them investigated. He would, however, attract plenty of people eager to exploit him. Maybe he should ask his parents if they know of a reliable manager that he could hire. He didn't have the experience or knowledge to manage everything. Besides, he wanted to focus on the Pokemon Circuit and have fun exploring the world.

Furthermore, he needed to create his own company. It shouldn't be too complicated, as he only had a couple of employees at the moment and he wasn't looking to make a profit in the short term. However, once he got enough funds to start building infrastructure on the island, he would be hiring a lot more people.

{0(((..)))0}

The team stepped outside of Viridian City with Shelly and the trailer in tow. Earlier in the day, Lucas had been intrigued when the girls returned with several bags with excited expressions. Despite his efforts to peek at the contents, he was pushed away and told to mind his own business.

“Alright, everyone aboard the Shelly train. Dante, since you are now in the pre-evolution stage, I am about to kick your training into an extra gear. It's time to start training your speed and endurance by running with me.”

Endurance could be considered a hidden stat that determined how much aura that Pokemon lost while doing strenuous tasks like participating in battles. There was no convenient AP to raise it, so it was down to old-fashioned hard work.

‘I suppose so.’ Dante sighed.

‘I want to run as well.’ Max raised his hand.

“Sorry, buddy. Wait until Dante gets tired. I don’t want to exhaust everyone at once in case we get attacked by wild Pokemon.”

"Why are you running?" Misty asked.

“To stay in shape,” Lucas said with an innocent expression.

"Don't question it," Jason said, pulling himself up onto Shelly. “It’s another one of his strange rules.”

Imara demanded to sit in front of the trailer as the rest of the Pokemon climbed on top. She smiled and waved at Dante, who shook his fist back at her.

“Are you not bringing your Pokemon along?” Faith asked Misty.

"My Pokemon love spending time in water habitats," Misty replied. “So I rented one out from a service

in Cerulean City. I will summon them at lunch or when I need them for Pokemon battles.”

The girls followed Jason and climbed into the saddle. Lucas patted Shelly on the nose. “Hey girl, follow my pace. Not too fast.”

“Horn,” Shelly grunted in response.

Lucas started jogging alongside Dante, with the team following behind. There was an increased risk of not noticing an imminent attack when moving faster, so Lucas made sure to use his aura sense to scout for any wild Pokemon. He spotted some inside the tree line, but they kept away. It was no surprise as they probably felt intimidated by Shelly, who was at a higher level than them. Once they hit Route 22, they may meet some Pokemon who are more aggressive.

They had set off after having an early lunch, so they had about six hours of reasonable travelling time. Their goal was to reach the rest area on Route 22, where they had camped last time. It was a small enclosed area with a solid wall that travellers could use as a resting point on their way through the area.

Lucas kept an eye on his aura consumption. He calculated that he could keep jogging for seven to eight hours at his current pace. Obviously, he wasn’t planning to use up all of his aura because he needed to save some in case of an emergency.

After an hour and a half after they had left Terracotta Town, they turned onto Route 22, and Lucas became more cautious. Another two hours later, Dante called it quits and climbed onto the trailer while Max took his place.

They met some fellow travellers along the road and some Rangers, but the wild Pokemon stayed away. A slight drizzle started as they got closer to the camp, so they put on their raincoats. By the time the light began to fade, they had reached the rest area.

"Well, we made good time," Lucas said. "If we leave early tomorrow morning, I think we should reach the intersection before lunchtime.

As they knocked on the solid iron gate, it creaked open, revealing a young man who welcomed them and allowed them to pass through. There was a clearing inside about the size of a football field, and several tents were already set up around the area.

As soon as Shelly was parked, Lucas unhooked her from the trailer, and the huge Pokemon rolled her shoulders to ease the stiffness from wearing the harness. By the looks of it, she could have continued for twice as long. They retrieved the tents and set them up side by side, which took up a fair bit of space.

“Man, these are easy to set up,” Jason looked at the three finished tents with a satisfied look.

“They advertised them as idiot-proof,” Lucas said straight-faced.

“Really, that’s inter — hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

The girls laughed at him, and they stepped into one of the tents to see how they looked inside. Jason set the portable stovetop up and prepared an easy meal of chicken breasts and salad. Lucas had decided not to learn the Cooking skill as he had zero interest in cooking for himself or others. Although it was a strange quirk, he was allowed to have a few of them. Jason and Faith took turns cooking meals, and they were pretty adept at it.

Misty summoned her four Pokemon into the area. Kabutops, Staryu, Psyduck and Seel. Their meals were already taken care of in the habitat, but she fed them some snacks while she sat with them and

talked about their day.

Lucas prepared meals for the Pokemon, including Shelly, who ate more than the other Pokemon combined. As he tried to feed Duke a fish chowder dish, Duke turned up his snout and looked away. He was definitely a picky eater. Sighing, Lucas fed the Pokemon another pink coral.

"Since he enjoys coral, he may only eat other water plants," Misty suggested. "He may not like to eat fish."

"Is that true, Duke?" Lucas asked.

'Of course. How do you not know that?' Duke's tone suggested he was talking to an idiot.

Lucas folded his hands in his lap to avoid the temptation to reach out and strangle Duke. "Next time, tell me what you like or else you will eat grass. There's plenty of that in abundance."

'Insolence.' Duke huffed as the other Pokemon laughed at him.

After dinner, Misty and Faith decided to do some training together. They were both pursuing the path of type mastery, so they both shared some common obstacles, even though one was a water-type trainer and the other was a grass-type. Misty was the more experienced of the two, as she grew up around a gym, so Faith wanted to pick her brains for ideas.

Unlike Lucas, Faith was taking her time raising and collecting a party of Pokemon and was not focused on getting the gym badges or raising her trainer level. That may change when she gets to the Pewter City gym, where she has a type advantage. So far, her two Pokemon had maxed out their stats for the first stage and had a few moves under their belts. Their affinities were progressing nicely as well.

"Can your Pokemon spar with mine?" Jason asked. "I want to test their capabilities in a fight."

"Sure," Lucas said. "I want to test Duke's performance in battle. Just let me get the others sorted first."

Lucas gathered his Pokemon in a group and discussed the training schedule for the evening. "Dante, I want you to work on absorbing psychic-type energy. The process works much like increasing your affinity, except you gather and store energy within your node. You have to max out the capacity in a month's time, so you have to be diligent."

'Okay.' Dante sat down and started meditating.

Lucas turned his attention to Imara and Max. "I want the two of you to spar since you are both the physical fighters in the group. Free-form fighting only. I trust you won't go too far and hurt each other?"

The two of them nodded, walked off to an empty spot a few metres away, and began sparring.

Lucas led Duke over to where Jason was waiting with his two Pokemon. Duke squared off with Sandee first, where he had the advantage. However, they didn't fight too seriously. Duke had improved somewhat with his water manipulation, but he still had a way to go, as he wasn't utilising his full speed.

As he watched, he took notes on his phone to address some areas of concern later and chatted with Jason.

“So, where can we get the fossils revived?” Jason asked. They had decided to let Lucas hold onto them, and he stored them in his inventory. They were too valuable to hold onto while travelling. It may be necessary now that they had Shelly and the trailer, which made them more visible than they used to be. They may attract some criminals looking to steal from them, so they have to be careful.

“Pewter City,” Lucas replied. “I'm not sure of the process, but I imagine it's not a small amount of time."

"Shieldon sounds so cool," Jason grinned. "I can't wait."

After they finished their training, it was time to retire for the night. Lucas was surprised when Faith grabbed his hand and led him to his tent. Their Pokemon were told to stay in Jason's tent, which gave Lucas an inkling of where the night was leading. Surely he couldn't be this fortunate?

So, what do you think? What do you think about sex scenes in the story? If it's not your cup of tea, I will give you a warning at the start of every scene where it occurs.

Thanks for reading.